Wonder Woman Archives - Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources

Publishing | Papercutz, which has had an extremely successful program of LEGO graphic novels based on the Bionicle, Ninjago and Legends of Chima properties, is losing that license to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, which will have its own graphic novels in bookstores by the end of this year. Papercutz reveals it will continue to publish Bionicle and Ninjago through the end of this year, and Legends of Chima through mid-2016. [Publishers Weekly, ICv2]

Passings | Fred Fredericks, who drew the Mandrake the Magician comic strip from 1965 to 2013, has died. In addition to his daily newspaper work, Fredericks drew comics for Western Publishing and Marvel. [ComicMix]

It’s probably safe to assume that director Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be pretty dark (spoilers!), with the Dark Knight going toe-to-toe with the Man of Steel until they begrudgingly form an alliance, comic book-style, against a common foe. However, it might be a refreshing surprise if the World’s Finest duo were instead depicted more like competitive, immature friends whose annoying rivalry has gotten a little out of hand.

If you’ve never really gotten into soccer, it’s may be due to the sports disappointing lack of optic blasts, lightsabers and magic spells. Luckily for you, this video “Super Hero Soccer” remedies all of that.

Produced by Four32Productions and Dark Pixel, the short brings together a disparate group of heroes — from Superman and Wonder Woman to Neo and Desmond Miles to Spider-Man and Hermione Granger — for a no-holds, and no-powers, barred soccer match. It’s unclear who wins, or if they were even keeping score, as the game is called because of … well, you’ll see.

Fans of DC Comics and Warner Bros.’ big-screen plans may cringe a little at this Dorkly video, in which classic arcade versions of Iron Man, Captain America, Batman and Superman square off over their upcoming movie team-ups, Civil War and Dawn of Justice.

Short version? Well, that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is essentially a lesser version of Captain America: Civil War, a stance that will undoubtedly launch a thousand Internet arguments. I’m not sure that holds much water, but the video is fun to watch as the Dark Knight turns his frustration on the Man of Steel.

Censorship | Police confiscated 200 copies of Malaysian cartoonist Zunar’s latest book, which lampoons the prime minister’s wife, as they were being transported to a book launch party on Saturday. Zunar, who was charged last week with sedition and held for three days because of a comment he made on Twitter, said every time he’s arrested, police raid his printer. Nonetheless, he encouraged the attendees at the launch party to order his books online, and said that ultimately, attempts to suppress him will backfire on the Malaysian government. [The Malaysian Insider]

The Mattoon, Illinois-based company specializes in custom-painted helmets that can transform the rider into everyone from Goku and Deadpool to Iron Man and Spawn. It’s not all superheroes or comic books, either; there’s an assortment of Star Wars, Transformers and Power Rangers designs, for starters.

Three-year-old Sophia Sandoval of San Antonio, Texas, was diagnosed in May with medulloblastoma, a brain tumor, leading to months of chemotherapy. On Friday, the Wonder Woman fan celebrated her final treatment by dressing up as one of her favorite superheroes, much to the delight of Lynda Carter.

In a photo posted Tuesday on the Jessie Rees Foundation Facebook page and then widely circulated through social media, Sophia strikes a pose while standing in her bed at San Antonio’s Methodist Children’s Hospital holding a sign that reads, “My Last Day of Chemo. It Was Tough But I Was Tougher.”

Creators | “This is really a government of the cartoon, for the cartoon and by the cartoon,” Malaysian cartoonist Zunar said in an interview following the police raid on his Kuala Lumpur office. Zunar was in London at the time of the raid but expects to be summoned to the police station on his return to face charges under the Printing Presses Act, Sedition Act and Penal Code. “Why are the police involved in this?” he said. “If it is true I have defamed certain people, why not filed a civil suit? The government condemned Charlie Hebdo’s attacker but now they are ‘attacking’ me.” He also sent out some photos of the raid. [Malaysian Digest]

Freedom of Speech | Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia, called the raid Zunar’s office “shocking and outrageous” and demanded the government to return the confiscated books and drop all charges against him. [The Malaysian Insider]

You may recall those stylish DC Nation animated shorts by Robert Valley featuring a sunglasses-wearing Wonder Woman who cruises around in a classic Dodge Charger, fights a rollerskating Giganta and rescues a clueless Steve Trevor. If you don’t, you should watch them immediately (below), because they’re terrific — but also because DC Collectibles has unveiled a Wonder Woman statue based on Valley’s design.

Details are scant, but we know that it arrives this fall as part of the Wonder Woman: The Art of War line … and it’s pretty great-looking.

Manga | Manga accounted for almost 80 percent of Japan’s digital book market in the 2013 fiscal year, according to a report released by the Yano Research Institute. The marketing research company predicts the country’s larger digital market, which is worth about $710 million, will see a 23.5 percent growth in the 2014 fiscal year. [Anime News Network]

When the first few pages of Wonder Woman ’77‘s inaugural installment finds the Amazon Princess squaring off against a trio of Soviet roller-derby assassins, clearly it’s setting a very specific tone. DC’s latest digital-first series borrows its core conceit from the successful Batman ’66, presenting new comics stories from the world of an old TV adaptation.

Indeed, so far it’s fairly faithful to the show’s then-present-day setting, with Diana Prince and Steve Trevor working for a fictional government intelligence agency (the IADC) and getting their exposition from IRA the computer. Accordingly, in terms of period pieces, it’s not exactly The Americans, but writer Marc Andreyko and artist Drew Johnson have done a great job capturing both the look of the show and the style of its leads. Their Lynda Carter is spot-on, and their Lyle Waggoner evokes TV-Steve’s sparkly toothed swagger perfectly. Johnson (with colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr.) draws an especially detailed 1977, from the subtleties of Wonder Woman’s costume to the crowds at Studio 52. (Of course it’s “Studio 52.”)

Happy New Year and welcome to Shelf Porn, our weekly glance into one fan’s collection. Today’s shelves come from Jason in California, who shows us his sharply designed shelves of action figures and Wonder Woman stuff.

If you’d like to see your collection featured here on Robot 6, you can find complete details at the end of this post.

Being a superhero may be a full-time job, but everyone’s got to have a life outside of work … right? Artist Des Taylor, creator of the upcoming series Scarlett Couture, answered that question recently with illustrations featuring the likes of Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Batgirl and Lois Lane, and they don’t disappoint.

“There are enough artists drawing them kicking the hell out of each other,” Taylor writes on his deviantART page. “I like to illustrate my favourite heroes doing everyday casual stuff.”